So What?: Arthuriana and the Public Humanities (Claytor, McKee, & Sheble)
- mmapodcast1
- May 25
- 2 min read
Introducing the new public humanities journal, The So What, Margaret Sheble, webmaster and contributing editor for Arthuriana, Arielle McKee, Outreach Coordinator for The So What, and Brittany Claytor, Assistant Outreach Coordinator, discuss the origins and importance of The So What in today’s current academic, cultural, and political climate.
The journal’s focus is on short, accessible pieces (critical, pedagogical, and/or creative works) that explore the "why" or "so what" of topics related to medieval studies and/or works of medievalism. Especially those that highlight the multilingual, multicultural, global middle ages and that focus on inclusion, diversity, and justice.
Margaret, Arielle, and Brittany also discuss their professional backgrounds and how they became interested in medieval literature.
Margaret Sheble is the webmaster and contributing editor for Arthuriana and is currently an American Council of Learned Societies Leading Edge Fellow, working as an Archive Distribution Specialist at the Educational Video Center in New York City. This is a social justice focused non-profit that teaches high schoolers how to make documentaries often from marginalized communities.
Brittany Claytor is the Assistant Outreach Coordinator for The So What, the web editor for Peatsmoke Literary Journal, and a freelance editor specializing in Danish and wider European editing and communications.
Arielle McKee is currently a visiting assistant professor at Wake Forest University. McKee’s primary research investigates the effects of fairy-caused chaos in Middle English romance, focusing on the revolutionary potential of fairy messes. McKee is also Outreach Coordinator and contributing editor for Arthuriana and The So What.
Further resources:
General:
International Arthurian Society- North American Branch: https://www.international-arthurian-society-nab.org/
Arthuriana Website: https://www.arthuriana.com
TSW Website: https://www.arthuriana.com/tsw
American Council of Learned Societies: https://www.acls.org/
Public Humanities and Writing for a Non-Academic Audience:
Justin Zackal, “How to Make Your Non-Academic Writing Easier to Read,” Higher Ed. Jobs (Nov. 2023): https://www.higheredjobs.com/Articles/articleDisplay.cfm
Tressie McMillan Cottom, “Risk and Ethics in Public Scholarship,” Inside Higher Ed (Dec. 2012): https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/university-venus/risk-and-ethics-public-scholarship
Irina Dumitrescu, “What Academics Misunderstand about ‘Public Writing,’” The Chronicle of Higher Education (July 2020): https://www.chronicle.com/article/what-academics-misunderstand-about-public-writing
Jonathan Wilson, “Writing History As If It Matters (to Lots of People),” The Junto: A Group Blog on Early American History (Jan. 2017): https://earlyamericanists.com/2017/01/20/writing-history-as-if-it-matters-to-lots-of-people/
MLA Webinars on the Public Humanities: https://www.mla.org/Resources/Career/MLA-Webinars-on-the-Public-Humanities
Other Resources:
Alicia Spencer-Hall, Medieval Twitter, Arc Impact (2024).
Medieval Institute Publications, “Premodern Transgressive Literatures,” Western Michigan University: https://wmich.edu/medievalpublications/books/premodern-transgressive-literatures
Dr. Eleanor Janega, Going Medieval: Medieval History, Pop Culture, Swearing: https://going-medieval.com/
The British Library, Medieval Manuscript Blog: https://blogs.bl.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/
Dr. John Wyatt Greenlee, Historia Cartarum: Meditations on the Historical Production of Spaces (i.e., Maps and Eels): https://historiacartarum.org/
Margaret Sheble and Logan Quigley, “‘And I am more than this man can comprehend’: Contemporary Arthurian Texts and Resistance to White Supremacy,” Journal of the International Arthurian Society, vol. 12, no. 1, 2024, pp. 179-98. https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/jias-2024-0008/pdf